Man ordered held on $750K bail after being charged in Bucktown rape

By Peter Nickeas and Dan HinkelTribune reporters

After meeting a woman at a bar, a former University of Illinois at Chicago soccer player returned with the woman to her apartment, where he allegedly raped her and — when she tried to flee — dragged her back into the home by the ankles and choked her until she fell unconscious, prosecutors said.

Alarmed by screams from the 26-year-old woman early Sunday, neighbors called police, who arrested the attack suspect as he walked out of the apartment in Chicago's Bucktown neighborhood, prosecutors said.

Michael Giffin, 25, is charged with aggravated criminal sexual assault and unlawful restraint. On Sunday, Cook County Judge Peggy Chiampas set a $750,000 bond for Giffin, who continues to assist the UIC team and coach youth soccer, according to prosecutors.

Giffin and the woman were together at two bars Saturday night before they shared a cab to her home in the 2300 block of West St. Paul Avenue and she invited him in, said Assistant State's Attorney William Hall. They had a drink together before she said she was tired, Hall said.

Giffin then forced her to have sex with him, raping her repeatedly and threatening to kill her if he wasn't sexually gratified, Hall said.

When Giffin went to the bathroom, Hall said, the woman took the opportunity to run from her apartment and scream. But Giffin grabbed her, dragged her back into her home by the ankles and choked her until she lost consciousness, Hall said.

Police arrived just as Giffin, who lives in the 1700 block of South Carpenter Street in the Pilsen neighborhood, was leaving the woman's apartment, authorities said.

The woman suffered bruises, scrapes and a sprained wrist, and she was treated and released from a local hospital, authorities said.